Our baby boy is now over 4-months old. The past couple of months have certainly led to some interesting learning experiences. When changing his diaper this morning, I became aware of how nonchalant I have become about the whole process. This made me draw a parallel between changing diapers and using power tools.
My son has peed on my hands a couple of times during diaper changes. He has also hit my shirt, my arms, my pants, and around his changing area, but but not my face, at least not yet. Why? Because I take proper safety precautions.
Everyone who has raised a boy will tell you that there is an inevitability – you will get peed on. It’s only a question of where, and how often.
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It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve been peed on. We keep a washcloth near the changing pad for quick blocking, but I mostly don’t need it.
When changing his diaper, I do a quick check. Right before removing the used diaper, I will always check to see if he’s actively peeing, and then I check for signs of recent urination. Sometimes I’m about to let my guard down, but I fight it off. When this happens, I make an internal bet. I keep him covered for another couple of seconds, check again, and sure enough, he’s peeing. I figured that there’s a 9-in-10 chance that if I let my guard down it’ll be fine. But there’s still that 1-in-10 chance that if I get lazy I’ll get peed on.
There’s about a 2-second gap (or less) between when the old diaper is removed and the fresh diaper moved into place. I control the line of sight so that, if he pees during that time – and he has – the stream is blocked and easily captured by one of the diapers. Rarely do I need to reach for the emergency pee-blocking washcloth.
So here’s the thing. I’m quite comfortable changing my son’s diapers now. So comfortable that I almost let my guard down. So comfortably that I almost get lazy. Almost. There might be 20 diaper changes where he doesn’t pee during the short time he’s exposed. But it just takes one time to get peed in the face.
Woodworking tools, other power tools, and even hand tools are the same way. I mention woodworking tools first because table saws and other saws are among the most dangerous tools with great potential for bodily harm. If you use a certain tool or type of tool 5 times, 10 times, 50 times, 500 times, there’s a tendency to get comfortable with it. The same goes for experience. If you’ve been using the same type of tool for 5, 10, or 20 or more years, you’re probably quite seasoned and comfortable with it.
Experienced woodworkers, professionals, and tool users sometimes let their guard down, which could lead to potential injury. It doesn’t always lead to injury, but it just takes one instance of kickback, one time when you don’t use a push block, one time when you don’t clamp something down, or one time when you don’t wear safety glasses, to get hurt. One time where you don’t treat a tool with the proper respect is all it takes to suffer injury or even death.
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It just takes ONE time, one mistake, one lapse in judgement, for something bad to happen.
If I get a little careless or too comfortable when changing my son’s diaper, I run the risk of being peed in the face. If I get a little careless or too comfortable with a table saw to where I skip or ignore safety practices, a lot worse could happen.
Accidents will happen. But following proper safety procedures all of the time can help minimize the risk.
You could wear safety glasses 5,000 times without any incident. Then, that one time you don’t is when you might need them most.
Let your guard down when changing a baby boy, and sooner or later he WILL pee on you, possibly hitting you in the face. Get too comfortable with power tools, or even hand tools, to the point where you might be unsafe, and you’re taking a much bigger chance with very different potential outcomes.
So please, take the time to do a safety audit this week. When using your tools, take a moment to ask yourself the following:
Am I following the proper safety procedures? Is there anything I could or should do to make this safer? Would I let a child use this tool in the manner I am using it?
Casey
As somebody with a newborn son, I appreciate your analogy!
But it's me!
With three boys well out of diapers, I can sympathize. Maybe safety glasses for diaper duty should be included with birth?
Good reminder about safety. I got lazy with a “quick cut on the miter saw” miter and ended up with a nice scar on my face thanks to a tiny bit of kickback. Ever since then, a safety shield sits on the miter saw handle. Every morning I get a reminder of my lapse in judgement. But I will also go home and look through my safety gear, thanks to your reminder.
DanG
Stuart,
That was a great article. I loved the comparison you made between changing your sons diapers and safety hazards of power tools. The big difference between the both is you just get grossed out when you son pees on your face and when you are careless with power tools you can lose a part of your body.
Andy
Great article on safety, every time I have gotten injured working with tools is due to a familiarity that has made me complacent. Or deliberate laziness “I do not need my impact glasses on just one cut”, I say to myself. Then… BOOM, stitches, thanking the tool-gods, it is only stitches and not an eye patch. I bought extra glasses (z87 or better) and put a pair in every power tool case I own.
Farid
Great article, Stewart. It’s always good to review your habits.
We always had a wash cloth laying around to drape over our son while changing, but luckily, we did not have many accidents. Once he got more mobile though, we had to be even more vigilant about falling off. One last thing, just wait until he starts eating solid food….you may want to keep that 3M face mask with charcoal canister handy!!
porphyre
Yup, always stay vigilant. I always hate the feeling I get when I’m halfway through doing something and I realize I didn’t put on my safety glasses.
Daniel Lawson
I keep about 4 or5 pairs of glasses around and have 4 more brand new in box as well.. I recently purchased 2 grrrr ripers from lowes to go with my new table saw I bought as well. I work as a ff/emt so i’ve seen it and try to be proactive, I admit I have my lazy moments but I stop as soon as I realize. Oh and never let the baby aim at you lol.
fred
I’m a believer in the notion that circadian rhythm plays a role in reduced alertness and accident occurrence. In my home shop, I make it a practice to avoid doing potentially dangerous operations in the mid-afternoon period – regardless of what I’ve ingested for lunch. I’ve noticed that I’m more alert after about 8-9AM in the morning and then again after 4PM in the afternoon.
Safety glasses,face shields, hearing protection – plus common sense about avoiding loose clothing, rings, poor footwear etc. helps – but it is no substitute for proper training and being alert.
On a related topic, while my 40 year old Unisaw lacks some of the more modern features – it is equipped with a sliding table that helps to keep body parts well away from the blade. A few years back I bought a pair of push shoes – called GRR-Ripper which I believe improve rip cut safety over some other push stick configurations. In my professional cabinet shop – we had a dedicated Oliver rip saw – equipped with a motorized feeder – but my home shop budget and space wont quite allow for this. If I were doing it over today I might well consider a Sawstop saw with a sliding table – and or a European saw (e.g. Hammer).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H50B9S/
Jonathan W
Well done!
As a father of twin boys, that just cracked the ripe old age of 1, I commend you on your thought out plans.
I generally have at my disposal the following weap….tools:
1. Inexpensive, but decently fitting non-latex food prep gloves. Nothing quite like discovering poop under a finger nail when you get to finally eat. Also, desitin tends to be annoying to wipe off.
2. A 3M Tekk Paint Project Respirator, Medium, P95 ($22 on Amazon). This guy is good at removing “Organic Vapors”. This only comes into play with terribly close, or overflowing diapers. I call this “Darth Daddy Diaper Duty” time.
3. A pair of Prestige Medical Fluoride Scissor, Black, 7 1/2 Inch ($8 on Amazon). Sometimes a poop soaked $2 shirt is worth exactly what it’s covered in.
I’ve been made fun of by other fathers, family members, and my own wife.
I have avoided throwing up from the stench produced by a diarrhea purging baby that farts directly at you as you inspect the area.
I have not eaten (to me knowledge) any poop from them.
Finally I know I will not stab my poor kiddos as I try to remove disgusting clothing.
Sorry this was slightly off topic!
Pete
As I have a son coming February I have yet to have that experience. But soon enough! lol
John A
haha, funny.
I wore safety glasses while using a weed wacker for years until I got hit in the tooth (no chip) by a flying pebble, now I wear a full face, flip down shield. I also have many scars on my hands from working on cars since a young teen and now I use knuckle protecting mechanics gloves and the latex, blue and black gloves for dirty oil and mild chemical(s) protection.
For the low cost of some “safety” items, there’s no excuse to not have them on hand.
Mike
With son just a bit more the year older I promise this isn’t even the worse yet! Just wait till they are walking and the poop is oozing out the diaper all the way down the hallway. Then they learn to reach down and start playing with it smearing it all over them, you, the walls, etc… You’ll end up wanting a full containment suit! Then when he learns to just rip that diaper off and runs around naked laughing! It’s like a time bomb just waiting to go off!
ktash
Don’t forget hearing protection! With kids it can do double-duty. You can wear it when your child won’t stop screaming no matter what you do to calm him/her. Or later when said kid learns to play the drums as a teen. 🙂 Serious about using the hearing protection with all power tools, though.
CB
And an NOSH N95 Respirator Mask for the smelly ones…
RKA
Stuart, I believe you’ve stumbled on the perfect safety device! As easy as it is to get complacent with a power tool, one would never take a chance if the price is a squirt in the mouth! 🙂
Mike47
I’ve never been peed on by a power tool. Some tools have, however, pissed me off.
Farid
🙂 🙂 🙂
Tyson L
Not long ago I was ripping a 2×10 and the board split and the saw hurled a chunk of lumber into my chest. Not long after that, sliced my leg open with a circular saw blade. Both were because of issues with what I was cutting, and not entirely user error. (I wasn’t being lazy but I wasn’t being overly cautious) With that being said, accidents are prone to happen. The thing that I spent some time doing was preparing an on hand first aid kit, eye wash, etc. That might make for an interesting write up…. “What’s in your first aid kit?” or the best first aid kit for ______.
joe
One thing that has helped me (i”l even go as far as to say that prevented death a few times) is to picture the worse case scenario in my mind and then picture what I would do in such a case to avoid it.
That’s one of the reasons I avoid driving when it rains because 80% of accidents occur when raining since peoples’ general sense of judgment gets thrown off during wet conditions.
That’s why my alert senses of self defense are way up higher when is flu season. I got tired of getting infected by flu virus carying sick people whom are not educated how they get the flu.. so I blatantly just tell them that I don’t want to get sick and not get near me. Going to work with the flue virus sucks! Even to the point that it can put you more in danger around high power equipment.
lol nice analogy.
Bill K
Entertaining, thought provoking & excellent advice!! Thanks for the reminder!
Mac
Awesome post Stuart!
Joe M
I used to change my Nephew’s diapers when he was a baby (He’s a teenager now, so this is admittedly a long time ago). Just one of those “Uncle” things you end up doing when your sister-in-law just needs a nap, and your Brother can’t be around at that moment.
Like with your tools, you find little tricks that make you safer. I found it reduced the number of times he peed on me when I pushed on his tummy, just below the navel, for a few seconds before starting to change him. This either made him hold it in for a few minutes, or emptied his bladder before opening the diaper.
I find it easier on my tools when I do a quick cleanup of the area I’m working on before I start, reducing the number of potential items flying into the path of danger. Similar technique, really. Do something that removes the uncertainty for a little while before you continue. Safety is safety. Ick and Ouch are no different when you’re talking your own safety.